Advanced · 15 min
Decans and the courts
In the Golden Dawn system the cards from Two to Ten share out the zodiac in 36 slices of ten degrees, and the courts rule wider spans. Learn to read a card's decan and its Book T title.
In this lesson you will
- Find the sign, decan and planet of any card from Two to Ten in the Golden Dawn system.
- Explain a Book T title from the card's sephirah, sign and planet.
- Name a court card's element within its suit and its zodiac span, and the contested rank mapping.
In the number lessons you met the Book T titles: the Three of Swords is the Lord of Sorrow, the Six of Wands the Lord of Victory. Where do such titles come from? In the Golden Dawn system each numbered card is also a small slice of the zodiac, with a planet of its own.
Thirty-six slices of the sky
The zodiac is a circle of 360 degrees, divided into twelve signs of 30 degrees each. Cut each sign into three slices of ten degrees and you have 36 decans. There are exactly 36 numbered cards from Two to Ten, and the Golden Dawn gave one decan to each.
Each suit takes the three signs of its own element. Wands, the Fire suit, run through Aries, Leo and Sagittarius: the Twos to Fours take the first sign, the Fives to Sevens the second, and the Eights to Tens the third. The Aces stay above the zodiac as the roots of their elements.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- The suits around the zodiac
- Reading a title
- The courts: wider spans
- Your turn
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.